Best Projection Practices?

[Chkurgrnd]

I thought I would learn something from this list, but if a new person who is thrust into a visual ministry, who isn't very creative, and needs info... would be confused. I disagree with almost all the list. What is projected does end up being about preference, professionalism, readabilitity, song feel, congregation reaction and adding to the atmosphere of worship instead of distracting. I just ended out a trial run with Easyworship and I'm going to earmark the series of checks I send in addition to my tithe to get it since my budget is nil. My experience with it makes worship software a no brainer. You can do most of the easier tidbits of songs, clear slides w/ no lyrics, and formatting the slides with outline, shadow, etc. with Powerpoint but it takes ages to do so. I had to catch up our church on #18... there was no CCLI number to be found on any projected content. I agree with the others that this list is archaic (sp?) and the writer needed to get a bigger spectrum of 'responses.' This ultimately shouldn't be about artistic pride but serving the congregation and their response to what our pastors have on their hearts to lead them to the throne of God.

[sempei13]

First, this should have comments enabled so that people can comment, but that's not the question.

I've been doing graphics for 8 years. I started with Powerpoint97. My rules are tested on literally thousands of eyes. The rules listed in numbers 8 and 16 should be ignored altogether.

Here are my clip art rules:
1) Clip art should NEVER be used.
2) If you want to use it, refer to rule number 1.
3) It's better to make a mistake and not use it than to use it and not need it.

Instead of clip art use photographs and videos. If you can't find an image or a video, don't use clip art. It communicates, "I'm outdated. I don't care enough to search for a free image. This message doesn't matter." It wasn't always this way, but it is now. I'm sorry to sound so stubborn, but I've seen it over and over.

Animations are the same way. Don't use them--ever. I don't care who you are. Don't. 15 years ago they worked. Now, they don't.

I don't like light backgrounds with dark text. That's much less of an issue than using transitions, animations, or clip art. It's like dressing in parachute pants and a Michael Jackson glove. It was fine in the past, now it's not.

Paul

[dmot]

#26 is my favorite. What's the point in using a video background if you don't want motion?

I have to applaud the effort though. Several posts here have given estimates as to how far out of date this list is, and while 10-15 years may seem like a lot, it sure beats the 30 - 40 years that is often seen in churches.

[[Admin] osborn4]

Originally Posted by sempei13

Here are my clip art rules:
1) Clip art should NEVER be used.
2) If you want to use it, refer to rule number 1.
3) It's better to make a mistake and not use it than to use it and not need it.

For sermons, I agree.* And now that we only do 3-4 announcement slides a week, I will also agree for announcements

However, when we were doing 20-25 announcement slides a week, I couldn't do it without clip art. Some visual element is better than none.

To rebut my previous point, my son and I just got done doing visuals for our national conference. This includes trying to keep on top of an announcement loop that would range 20-30 slides. This year, we decided to go no graphics, all text, just using fonts and text treatments. And it worked pretty well.

That gave us a somewhat consistent style (same background, text only) for the slide show while allowing us to use fonts, text colors and treatments to reflect the flavor of the message (e.g. youth get together vs. men's chorus rehearsal).

*The exception to the "no clip art" that prove the rule is if you decide to do it for a specific style, e.g. retro, nostalgic, 50s kinda look. But it should be done on purpose, not by accident.

[Sysmom]

I started reading the list ... even started taking notes about things I thought should be clarified, or which were in direct opposition to my opinions, and when I got to the FIRST item which conflicted another point in the list, I stopped taking notes, and just read on for amusement.

It *is* all opinions, which have a lot of bias, depending on the situation and the person. I could make my own list up ... and truly, the only people who need to agree with my list are the people here at SouthPoint.

I've changed my opinion over the years as I read and studied professional material, and as I've witnessed people's reactions (or lack of) to whatever is projected. Sometimes I haven't agreed with things I've read or studied ... but tried them anyway. WOW, was I shocked the first couple times to find they were right. It's made adapting and changing a bit easier now than it used to be - but that's a personal issue.

So, heh, all this to say ... whatever

[Lucas]

Last weekend, I did a youth event, just our usual setup. (3 liters of fog in 2 days)

I would have used EVERY SINGLE motion background I had, with the exception of 5-6 flower ones. (Hosanna didn't go long enough)

Jump Backs 57: Chromed Themes (DVD)

Jump Backs HD 12: Base Camp (DVD)
Jump Backs HD 15: Tunnel Vision II (DVD)
Jump Backs HD 16: The Wall (DVD)
Jump Backs HD 17: Simply Useful II (DVD)
Jump Backs HD 18: Law & Order (DVD)
Jump Backs HD 19: Base Camp II (DVD)
Jump Backs HD 20: Ethereal (DVD)
Jump Backs HD 22: Simple Thoughts (DVD)
Jump Backs HD 28: High Impact X (DVD)

Power Cuts - Mega Library 1 (DVD)
Power Cuts - Mega Library 2 (DVD)

We get really postitive comments about our backgrounds, all the time.

We used to tone down our backgrounds, by rendering them out really slow, but I found, it's easier to just leave them as they are.

I have a gig this weekend actually, I'll be taking a lot of pics. :P



In fact, the faster they are, the better they seem to go down.
Look in my MXC, gallery, it gives you a indication of what I look for.


That's 563_JB_HD from Jump Backs HD 28: High Impact X (DVD)

[sempei13]

Originally Posted by osborn4

For sermons, I agree.* And now that we only do 3-4 announcement slides a week, I will also agree for announcements

However, when we were doing 20-25 announcement slides a week, I couldn't do it without clip art. Some visual element is better than none.

What if you came up with a standard visual scheme (like a monochrome, letter-boxed image, with sans-serif text) and do a search on sxc.hu (or similar free stock-photo site) and apply the style to them and you're done.

It's a better alternative than clip art and will provide both continuity and a step up in quality.

Paul

[[Admin] osborn4]

Originally Posted by sempei13

What if you came up with a standard visual scheme (like a monochrome, letter-boxed image, with sans-serif text) and do a search on sxc.hu (or similar free stock-photo site) and apply the style to them and you're done.

It's a better alternative than clip art and will provide both continuity and a step up in quality.

Paul

We were headed in a direction like that. But then our graphic volunteers got cut from 3 to 2 and something had to give. We decided to cut down the announcements to 3-4 and do a good job on those. No more clip art.

[tedanderson]

#29- Music Notation. Did they actually do that years ago?

#21- White Font w/Black Outline. Very good tip. I see so many PP presentations that just have white text without a shadow or outline causing it to be hard on the eyes, yet you don't know exactly why.

#7- Combining red and green. It might be hard for the color blind but I suggest that it's difficult for everyone else to see it too!

[sempei13]

That rocks. I think it will be more effective and look better.

Paul

Originally Posted by osborn4

We were headed in a direction like that. But then our graphic volunteers got cut from 3 to 2 and something had to give. We decided to cut down the announcements to 3-4 and do a good job on those. No more clip art.

[Sysmom]

There's more than red and green colorblindness ... and you can get a free plugin for Photoshop (or Paint Shop Pro) that will simulate it for you to check. Very handy!

http://www.vischeck.com/downloads/

deb